


The Unlikely Reign of Taichi Yagami

by KHLostEmpress



Category: Digimon Adventure
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-14
Updated: 2017-08-30
Packaged: 2018-10-18 15:30:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10619829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KHLostEmpress/pseuds/KHLostEmpress
Summary: Clearly everyone underestimated the sense of humor of the student body. He only ran as a joke; neither he nor his friends actually expected him to win the election for student council president. Now only two questions remain: Does power truly corrupt and can Odaiba High School survive while the Digidestined are in charge?





	1. April

**Author's Note:**

> This is meant to be completely humorous/ridiculous. And sort of crackish. In that you probably should not take it seriously. It shall be pretty evident what parts of Digimon canon I'm throwing out. *cough*epilogue*cough*

_“This has got to be some kind of joke, right?”_

_“Nope. Well, it started out as one, but then, I won. By a_ landslide _.”_

_“Who in their right mind would vote for you—_ you _—of all people? I mean, of all the harebrained, idiotic, throw-yourself-into-the-fire plans you’ve come up with before, this takes top spot. Actually, I take that back. I have seen worse, true, but seriously, Taichi? What possessed you to do this?_ Don’t answer that _! I know I said, ‘go ahead’ but you know I didn’t actually mean it._ Stop laughing, Takeru _. This isn’t funny. I don’t have time for this. We’ve got to be thinking about college this year. I still have a band to look after, not to mention who knows if the Digital World isn’t going to decided to blow up at any second. Don’t give me that look. You know it’s always a possibility.”_

_“...So, you’ll be my VP, right, Yamato?”_

_“I’d have to hit you if you even thought about anyone else but me.”_

\- Yamato and Taichi, at the Ishida apartment, after Taichi found out he won the election for Student Council President

* * *

 

The students of Odaiba High School had no idea what they had done.

They gathered in the large gym for the opening ceremony, three years of students in one place. The first years, who had no part in it, chatted in full force with friends they knew from junior high. Once at the top, some had not quite realized that they were back on the bottom. Most were still simmering in the excitement of entering high school.

The third years, in their final year as it was, were excited that their high school years were at last almost over. Mixed in with that was the fearful panic that they would soon be in college and have to deal with real life. With all their problems, they couldn’t be bothered by the lower classes and only wanted to survive until the end.

The second years were neither as bubbly as their younger peers nor as jaded as their elders. They were looking to ride through the year. The excitement of being in high school had faded, but the pressure of college was not yet overbearing. It was this group, alongside the third years, that would soon realize where their choices had left them.

As the principal came out and began to speak, the noise quieted down as the students listened. Announcements and reminders fell from her lips. The student body only partly paid attention, especially the older ones who had heard most of it before. But they all perked up when the principal finished. “And now, a few welcoming words from your student council president, Taichi Yagami.”

But who appeared was not the bushy-haired teen the students were familiar with. Everyone may not have known him personally, but there were few that didn't know him by reputation. Who walked onto the stage from the side was none other than the blond rock star, Yamato Ishida. There was no stopping the screams of the fans in the room. While still no more than a local sensation (and seemingly uninterested in becoming more), The Teenage Wolves were quite popular among the students. That he appeared rather than Taichi was odd but not unexpected. The pair were rather famous.

No one understood how (or why) the soccer star and the singer were best friends. Nor did anyone know how the group they hung around with came into being. It was such a strange array of personalities and interests that no one saw what they had in common. But no one was surprised when Taichi choose the blond as his vice president.

The principal vacated the podium as Yamato approached, shaking his head at her. The woman shrugged in response and left the stage to sit with the other teachers. Yamato came to the podium and looked out across the audience. His eyes payed special attention to the doors as they paused at every single one. Then he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Though he muttered his words, everyone heard them anyway due to the mircophone in front of him. “I can’t believe I agreed to this.”

Straightening, he gripped the edges of the podium in his hands. “Good morning, everyone. I am Yamato Ishida, the vice president. Our esteemed president is not here at the moment,” he ground out from between gritted teeth. “But I’m sure you all know him, since most of you voted for him. Those that don’t know him, don’t worry! You will.” To the students, it seemed like a warning as Yamato’s voice dropped low on those last words. But that didn’t make sense to anyone. Not to those that did know Taichi nor those that didn’t.  
“I will now introduce the rest of the student council—”

He cut off when all the lights in the gym went dark. While a few students screamed, most broke out into hushed whispers. The principal stood from her chair and got halfway to the stage before music began to play. Many recognized it as one of The Teenage Wolves’ more popular songs. At the same moment, the stage lights began to flash different colors all over the stage and the audience. A mist-like smoke rolled onto the stage from both sides. Everyone in the room, save one, was baffled by this turn of events. The one, Yamato (still standing at the podium), seemed defeated or exasperated (or both) as he rested his face in his hand.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” a deep voice echoed across the intercom. No one recognized it, but the voice sounded like it belonged in a sports arena of some kind. “I give you...the student council. Third Year Taichi Yagami, President.”

To the left of Yamato, the student body watched in awed rapture as a spotlight appeared. Then _something_ descended from the ceiling. As it came down further, they could see that it was a chair. (Though perhaps throne would have been more of an apt description.) Sitting on it was none other than Taichi Yagami himself. With one leg propped up on the other and a crown on his head, Taichi looked out into the audience with a smirk. It was a smirk that spoke like an overlord surveying his slaves. Though he wore his school uniform, a red velvet cape with white fur trim rested on his shoulders. Also, he held a giant gold staff in one hand.

When the chair reached the ground, the students were expecting him to get up and say something. They were greatly mistaken in thinking it was over. Instead, another spotlight appeared over Yamato, who hadn’t so much as glanced at his best friend. “Third Year Yamato Ishida, Vice President.” The blond did not move.

To the right of the musician, yet again there was another spotlight that appeared. “Third Year Sora Takenouchi, Secretary.” Another throne-like chair rose from the ground underneath the spotlight. The auburn haired girl sat on it (those closest could actually see that she was _tied_ to it). She was glaring daggers at Taichi. A crown similar to Taichi’s lay at her feet.

“Second Year Koushiro Izumi, Treasurer, and First Year Miyako Inoue, Historian.” The back curtain lifted revealing a staircase with the two people named at the top of it. Koushiro looked sort of confused until his eyes appeared to find Taichi. His expression shifted into a knowing smile. Miyako wore a determined smile and dragged Koushiro down the stairs with her.

Only when they got close to the front did Taichi rise from his chair and move to the podium. Finally, when Taichi was standing next to him, Yamato moved. He did so to raise his head and have a whispered argument with his friend. Which again everyone heard—microphone—but no one understood. “Angemon, Taichi? _Angemon_?”

Completely unaffected by the icy glare of his friend, a triumphant and somewhat self-congratulatory grin formed on the new president’s face. “He was the only one with a cool, deep voice small enough. It’s not like Garurumon can get into that box. Well, maybe _Were_ Garurumon.” He paused and threw an arm around Yamato’s shoulder. “But that would have required your help.”

Angemon? Garurumon? These words were foreign to the students. Friends whispered to each other theories of what they could be talking about. The best anyone could come up with were that they were some kind of code words or names. Not a single one guessed that they were digital monsters from another world. Which was in fact the truth.

Yamato shrugged his friend’s arm off his shoulder and folded his arms across his chest as he turned to face Taichi. “Oh, so Takeru helped you?” the blond inquired. A few in the audience recognized the name, mainly those among the freshman. Some knew him personally, others as that happy, optimistic blonde guy. A few knew him as that kid who hung out with Taichi’s sister. Fewer still were those that knew he was the younger brother of Yamato.

“Yeah, he thought it would be funny,” Taichi smirked.

Yamato’s expression crumbled again into one of defeat. “Of course, he did.” Though, those closest to the stage could have sworn they’d seen his lip tug upward into an almost smile.

Perhaps Taichi had seen it too because those that knew him the best could tell that he relaxed. Even if they hadn’t realized he’d been tense in the first place. The number of people in that category (that weren’t already on the stage) was very small, and the majority of those were his teammates on the soccer team. “And you know Patamon,” Taichi said. Another word that no one recognized. “Eager to do whatever Takeru says.” He lifted up the staff that he still held in his hand and swung it back and forth a bit. “Look, he even let me borrow his cool staff thing.”

“Please don’t swing that around,” Yamato pleaded as he leaned back. He looked suddenly and inexplicably wary and a little afraid. “You might kill somebody.” The students thought he was being sarcastic or exaggerating. It was a fair assumption since Yamato tended to be so very sarcastic.

He was not.

Taichi looked speculatively at the giant golden staff. “I doubt it’d work for me, you know.” He looked sort of disappointed at his realization.

“I’d rather not take the chance.”

“Are you two even listening to yourselves?” Sora hissed at them. When she strained against the rope wrapping her arms and legs to the chair, those that hadn’t yet known figured out her tied up state. “People can _hear_ you.” This led many of the student body to the conclusion that whatever those strange words meant, they were meant to be secret. In the end, it didn't matter that much. The students had pretty much learned by now to leave well enough alone with that group. It was safe to assume that no one was going to bring it up to them. If only because they didn’t want to be on the bad end of Sora Takenouchi’s temper.

The two friends looked at the girl in silence for a solid ten seconds. Finally, Taichi broke the silence by asking, “So...you want to go untie her?”

“Oh no. I am not touching that,” Yamato replied with quick emphatic certainty. “That is a can of worms you can deal with all on your own.”

Taichi looked chagrined for a second before he took center stage at the podium. It was apparent that he was going to ignore the tied up girl for the moment. “Well, Odaiba High School, this has been merely a taste of what is in store for you this year. Look forward to the rest of my reign.” A beat of silence. Then, a standing ovation surrounded by thunderous applause.

The students of Odaiba High School _still_ had no idea what they had done.


	2. May

_“I don’t know why you’re surprised. Taichi really is the best leader anyone could ask for. He_ still _is our leader, and you know we’d all follow him to the end of the earth if he told us to go.”_

_“I know that. Believe me, I’m man enough to admit now that I couldn’t have done what he did with us back then. I couldn’t have even begun to be who he was for us. He’s my best friend, and I wouldn’t want anyone else at the head of the Digidestined.”_

_“Then, I don’t understand the problem.”_

_“I trust Taichi with my life. With the life of_ anyone _and_ everyone _on this planet. Just not my education.”_

_“So, you’re the Vice President?”_

_“So, I’m the Vice President.”_

\- Sora and Yamato, at Odaiba High School, after Yamato formally accepted the Vice President seat

* * *

 

The class of 11B was surprised one Monday when the door to their classroom slid open without warning. This revealed the haggard looking and panting school council president, Taichi Yagami. He entered the room and shut the door an instant after he crossed the threshold. Taichi's eyes darted around the classroom, and then he grinned. “None of them are in here. Didn’t think so.”

The teacher, Mrs. Fujita paused in the middle of the math problem she’d been writing. Her hand pressed the chalk to the board with half a three trailing behind it. She furrowed her brows and began, “Look here…”

But Taichi was already halfway across the classroom. He interrupted her by pressing his finger to his lips and making a shushing sound in her direction. “Sorry, Mrs. Fujita. But pretend I was never here, alright?” Without waiting for the answer, Taichi finished crossing the room. He propped his hand on the sill and vaulted out an open window to the utter shock of all those present.

It took another second before one student remarked, “Aren’t we on the second floor?”

No sooner after that was said, then the door was flung open for a second time. This time the person on the other side caused half the class to flinch. The other half was too dumbfounded and confused by what was going on to muster any sort of reaction. It was one of the great mysteries of the school. How did such compassionate and caring person also have one of the hottest and vicious tempers they’d ever seen? But since she tended to only turn her temper on one of two people (or both, depending on the situation), no one took much time to figure it out. It was a simple known fact.

No one messed with Sora Takenouchi. Not if they valued their life.

Given the state the president had been been in when he arrived and the close following arrival of her, it wasn’t hard to guess the general gist of what was going on now. As the school council president was one of those two people, it was clear that Taichi Yagami was insane. Or had a death wish. Or both. The class of 11B was under silent agreement that it had to be one of the options as they gazed at the tennis star in their doorway. They could almost see the flaming aura she was emitting from her body. And then in a change so abrupt that quite a few students experienced mental whiplash, Sora’s entire demeanor shifted in an instant. Hands on her abdomen, she bowed to the teacher. “Mrs. Fujita, have you seen Taichi?” she asked after she came up. A warm, gentle smile graced her lips. But if anyone noticed how her humble inquisitive tone hardened on the president’s name, no one was going to call her on it.

However, Mrs. Fujita was still stunned that a student had jumped out of the window in front of her. She was pretty sure she should be reporting this incident to the principal. And getting medical assistance, as per her duty as a teacher, but at that very moment she was too shocked. Seeing the state her teacher was in, the Class Representative, a girl with long black hair in twin braids named Meiko, jumped to answer. “He jumped out the window,” she supplied

Sora’s eyes widened as her gaze jerked to the open window. Her lips twisted as her hand came up to cover her mouth. Unexpectedly, a snort accompanied by muffled laughter escaped. The class was once again stunned to silence for what seemed the umpteenth time. After all, that would not have been their reaction to hearing that one of their best friends had taken a two-story dive. “Well, it wouldn’t be the first time he’s almost died. And if a psychopathic, sword-wielding clown couldn’t kill him, I doubt this would.” Despite the epic (and probably traumatizing) story that was sure to be behind that statement, everyone knew better than to ask. Not to mention the fact that many were stuck on the knowledge that their president had apparently almost died enough times that it didn’t even phase his friends anymore.

Her laughter died down before she shrugged. “Well, if he didn’t want to do it that badly,” she said. Under her breath, few could hear when she added in a mutter, “I probably would do it better anyway.” Clasping her hands in front of her, Sora bowed once more to Mrs. Fujita. “Sorry for disturbing your class.” And without waiting for an answer, the student council secretary left, sliding the door closed behind her.

There was a pause of a few seconds. Then, the sound of chairs and desks sliding across the floor echoed around the room as the students of 11B made a mass migration to the window. Useless chatter accompanied to move, as they were all wondering if anyone could see the signs of their student council president. But the ground below them was empty. More than half had been somewhat expecting to see his dead body lying there, so it was a relief to see that there was no trace of Taichi.

The students exchanged glances, wonder and bewilderment evident on most of their faces. It was quiet for a moment until one student asked a sudden question. His eyes still looked at the ground of where the body of Taichi Yagami by all accounts _should have been_. “Do you ever get the feeling that the student council members are all some kind of undercover superheroes?”

It was perhaps a sign, one birthed by children old enough to remember when their island had been besieged by monsters long ago, that no one bothered to even dispute the idea.

* * *

 

Tuesday arrived and by the afternoon, everyone in the school had heard the story. Rumors, as they were wont to do, abounded throughout the school. There were students who swore they saw the president sprout wings and glide to the ground. There were also those among the student population who were positive that a parachute (acquired, of course, from a top secret government organization of which Taichi was a part of) was involved. While a general consensus could not be reached about the specifics (not even by the class of 11B, who had witnessed the event first hand), everyone was sure of one thing: the student council members had to have some sort of secret.

It was rather unfortunate (for the Digidestined, at least) that none of the student council members heard one whit of a single rumor. After all, it wouldn’t do for their undercover heroes (of whatever variety they may be) to know that they were onto them. Had they known, they may have been a bit more careful in what they said out loud.

Then again, perhaps not.

Regardless, during lunch that day, the students milling around the third year hallway were confronted by the sudden sight of Yamato Ishida chasing down Taichi Yagami. While this was a rare sight in and of itself, they were treated to this uncensored conversation:

“Stop running away from me!”

“Why? So you can hit me again?”

“ _Yes!_ ”

“It wasn’t my fault!”

“Oh, yes, it was.”

“It was only a sneeze!”

“ _That caused a fire_! And now, I have to _start all over_!”

By the end of the day, the entire student body had been informed of the new development. Their student council president could cause fires by sneezing. Somehow. Theories began to formulate, but still no one guessed the real truth. Which was in fact that it was Taichi’s partner, Agumon, whom Taichi had invited for lunch from the Digital World, that sneezed out fire onto Yamato’s homework. So, in a way, the Digidestined’s secret was still safe.

* * *

 

Another tidbit of information came to light on Wednesday afternoon. It was a well-known fact that Taichi was one of the bravest people anyone in the school would ever meet. Anyone who had watched him play a soccer game (or spent any more than five quality minutes with him) could attest to that. It was also assumed by the many who had seen them that his greatest fear was the anger of Sora Takenouchi. That caused many to wonder why he did such things to rile her wrath, but then again, he wasn’t called brave for no reason.

They were all wrong, of course. Taichi did not fear Sora in the slightest. There was a part of him that was nervous and wary ( _not_ fearful) of her temper. But he’d know the girl long enough that the larger part of him got a kick out of riling her up. He knew she wouldn’t ever hurt him (her conscience wouldn’t stand for it), so he knew he was safe.

There were only a few who were aware of what _was_ Taichi’s real greatest fear. Though, it wasn’t that hard to figure out. Anyone who knew Taichi, even a little, knew he cared for his baby sister more than anything in the world. It wouldn’t have been that far of stretch to realize that his greatest fear was that something would happen to his precious sibling.

But the students of 10F were about to create another theory of something else their president possibly feared. Or rather, _someone_.

The students had returned from their PE class and were milling about. They had to wait for their teacher to arrive to begin the next class. When the door slammed open, less than half the students were surprised to see that it was Taichi as he flew into the classroom, though some where in awe. Their student council president was legendary to them, even before the year began. The first years had all heard of the boisterous young man, some from older siblings, which then trickled to friends.

“I am not here, okay?” he said to them as he breezed through the room. He got a mute nod in reply, as many tensed in anticipation. Having heard the stories, the students were expecting yet another leap out the window. Even if it would not have been as impressive here on the first floor. They were quite disappointed (and baffled, to say the least) when the senior threw himself on the ground between the last two rows of desks.

Since they were all still looking at the president, most of the class missed the arrival of the second person to their classroom.

“Don’t insult my intelligence, Taichi. It’s demeaning.”

Intimidating. Frightening. Stupid. These were not words anyone associated with Koushiro Izumi. And as the students gazed at the boy in the doorway, they were _still_ not words anyone would use to describe him. The redhead was regarded as the smartest kid in the school and for his ability to do what seemed like about anything on a computer. He leaned against the door jam with his arms folded across his chest. A look that could only be called exasperation was plain on his face as he gazed at the spot where Taichi was laying.

Sheepishly, Taichi rose from the ground, scratching the back of his head. A chuckle escaped his lips. “Sorry, Koushiro.”

Koushiro started walking to where Taichi was standing as he said, “Now, let us discuss this plan of yours.”

To the surprise of everyone, a nervous smile sprang to life on the president’s face as he took a step back from the younger (and shorter) second year. “Come on, Koushiro. When have I--” He cut off as Koushiro leaned up and whispered something in his ear. No one heard what was said, but those that could see Taichi’s face saw his eyes widening before he looked at the treasurer. And then, the president walked out of the classroom. No fuss. No protests. Only simple compliance. Koushiro followed him, a rather triumphant, yet small, smile on his lips.

Stupid? Never.

Frightening? No.

Intimidating? Not really.

But the class of freshman learned that there were other way to control people’s fears. That and that perhaps there was more to Koushiro Izumi than many people had thought.

* * *

 

No one saw the president on Thursday (or at least whatever he was up to that day). But everyone assumed _something_ else was yet again going on as a few witnessed one Miyako Inoue wandering the halls, muttering to herself.

“Don’t know why they sent me. Like he’d listen to me. What am I supposed to say to him? Oh, Great and Fearless Leader, I am unworthy of thy presence, but please listen to my plea before the Hallowed Heart of Love snaps and destroys the world in a rain of fire. Yeah, right. Like that would go over well. Might be funny to see his reaction, though. Seriously, where is Hikari when you need her? Or Jyou or Daisuke or even Iori? I’m probably the _last_ person on the team he would listen to. Okay, that’s probably unfair. Taichi’s a great leader. He listens to all of us. But it’s not like I’m one of his best friends or his logistics manager, like the others. I’m pretty much just a peon compared to the original eight. Oh, forget it. This is stupid. I’ll just tell them I couldn’t find him.”

Though her words spread like wildfire through the student body, no one could glean much meaning from them. However, most did consider them confirmation on the group’s status as undercover superheroes.

* * *

 

Thus it was that no one in class 11B even blinked an eye this time, not even the teacher, when Friday arrived and Taichi ran through the classroom and vaulted out the window yet again. Class continued as if nothing had happened. A few did wonder why no one came after him, but that was all the interruption his appearance caused.

And none of the Digidestined heard a word of the (almost) true rumors running rampant throughout the school about them. 


	3. June

_“No. Absolutely not.”_

_“Sora, please…”_

_“No. Just because Taichi dragged you along and made you Vice President doesn’t mean that I have to go along, too. I only want to finish high school normally like everyone else. Go find someone else. Koushiro, for example.”_

_“Taichi wants it to be you.”_

_“Taichi will leave me alone if he knows what’s good for him.”_

_“_ I _want you there, too. He may be our leader, but you’re the heart of the group, Sora. And I can admit that my good judgment does not always...remain..._ intact _...when I’m around Taichi. His leadership skills are sometimes_ too _good. You’re the only one I trust to keep us in line.”_

 _“I am_ so _glad you think so highly of me.”_

_“You know you’re itching for an excuse to be able to whack him upside the head on a regular basis.”_

_“Believe me, Yamato. I don’t need an excuse. ...I won’t have a normal year either way, will I?”_

_“With Taichi in charge? Not a chance.”_

_“Fine. I’ll do it.”_

\- Sora and Yamato, at the tennis courts, after Sora’s club practice

* * *

 

Sora supposed it was inevitable. After all, the track record of the Digidestined in forests wasn’t exactly stellar. There was no reason to expect that this would have been any different from those times. Like most of the things Taichi did, it all started out well enough. Even if Taichi had spent most of the planning week running away from responsibility. Except that one time he ran away after Agumon burned Yamato’s homework. He claimed that he wanted to be surprised. He never did quite grasp the concept that as the president, nothing would be a surprise to him anymore. At least in the planning stages. The execution was a different story.

Camping, however, had been chosen by the teachers of the third year classes, so that’s what they planned. Sora hadn’t wanted to go camping. Then again, it wasn’t like bad things hadn’t happened to them with every other option. The beach? Check. Ancient structures? Check. Hot springs? Oh yeah, Devimon caused that to be triple checked and underlined for emphasis.

She had begged and pleaded for a ski trip. Nothing had ever happened to them in the snow. Taichi and Yamato both disagreed, but their opinion hardly mattered to her at that point. Especially as they explained exactly what _kind_ of _altercation_ had happened. If they counted each place the two boys had ever had an argument or fight, Sora would be wary of her _own home_.

In any case, she was in the end shot down, and camping it was. Sora only had to make the most of it. After all, there were only three Digidestined going, seeing as it was a Third Year Excursion. The odds of bad things happening had to go down with only _three_ of them.

Of course, Sora didn’t exactly take into account _which_ two she was stuck with.

Or the fact that, in what must have been a momentary lapse of judgment (or a bout of insanity), she had given Taichi solo responsibility of one activity. At the time, it seemed like the perfect idea. There was no one better suited than Taichi to plan a test of courage. After putting her foot down and emphasizing ‘no Digimon’, Sora let Taichi have free reign of the event.

This proved to be a mistake.

“Well, at least it was Yamato.”

Sora rubbed her eyes with the tips of her fingers. “He’s in the hospital, Taichi. A little sympathy would be nice.” Even though, some part of Sora was not exactly surprised that it had come to this. With Taichi as one of her best friends, perhaps the more surprising fact was actually the lack of time she spent in a hospital.

“It’s a hairline fracture. Not that big a deal.” Sora shot him a glare, incredulous at his dismissive tone. When he saw this, his hands came up, palms facing toward her, as he leaned away from her. His next words came out in a rush as he almost stumbled over his words. “I mean, I feel bad, I really do. But he does have the parent least likely to freak out between the three of us.”

Now this made zero sense to Sora to a point. While her own mother was not as bad as she had once been, Sora would expect some freaking out from Toshiko Takenouchi. But Sora knew the reasons behind why her injuries worried her mother. And while Yuuko Yagami could appear to be an airhead sometimes, she could go crazy mama bear when it came to injury or illness to her children. Proving that Taichi’s overprotective nature toward his sister was, in fact, inherited. But both of them paled in comparison to the attitude one Natsuko Takaishi had toward injury to her sons. Giving Yamato, in truth, the parent _most_ likely to freak out of the three of them. As Sora felt the need to point out. “What are you talking about?” she asked. “You know Yamato’s mother.”

There was a pause. In that pause, Sora noted several things. First, the hand that had been rubbing the back of his neck stilled. At the same time, his whole body tensed and his eyes went very wide. After that second’s pause, Taichi’s body slumped as his hands fell back to his sides. His gaze dropped down and to the side as finally a single syllable slipped from his mouth.

“Oh.”

Sora’s arms folded across her chest as her weight shifted onto one foot and her head tilted. “Oh?” she repeated. There were a lot of meanings to be gleaned from that one word. Judging by the way it was delivered, Sora could only think that it would end up being one she wasn’t going to like. And when it came to Taichi, being direct was always the best option. “What is that supposed to mean?” she demanded.

And true to her prediction, the answer she got was not one she liked. Though it did explain Taichi’s logic at the beginning of their conversation. “I wasn’t planning on telling his mother,” Taichi said, his gaze still on the floor.

Something snapped within her, and Sora exploded. “You can’t not tell his mother,” Sora hissed at him. Her hands clenched into fists at her side to stop herself from strangling her friend. “He. Broke. His. Arm!” Each word was spoken with punctuation and a single jab of her finger into the exact center of Taichi’s chest.

“It’s a hairline fracture!” Taichi shot back, throwing his hands into the air. “Besides, Yamato and I have an understanding about that.”

But Sora had stopped listening by that point. In fact, Taichi’s last few words were spoken to her retreating back as she walked over to the teacher. She went to make sure he knew Natsuko’s number to contact her about Yamato. Yamato’s father had already been called. As Taichi predicted, he was very accepting of the situation.

Within a few minutes, Yamato came out of the room. His left arm was wrapped in a black brace that went up to his elbow, covering almost his whole forearm. It was also tucked into a sling. Immediately, Taichi said, “I want you to know that it wasn’t my idea.”

“What are you talking about?” Yamato’s eyebrows furrowed together. “This was all one hundred percent your idea,” he added, indicating his injured arm with his free hand.

“Not that. _That_.”

Yamato’s eyes went wide and turned to Sora. “You called my mother?” This made Sora wonder, not for the first time, if there was some sort of telepathic ability between the two boys. She had not seen their equal in silent or underlying communication. It was almost freaky how much the two could communicate with each other without words. He waved between himself and Taichi with his uninjured arm. “We have an understanding about that.” He looked at Taichi again. “Why didn’t you stop her?” Taichi gave him a pointed, incredulous look. “Fair point,” Yamato conceded, tilting his head in a sort of sideways acknowledgement nod.

“I don’t understand the problem,” Sora interjected. “She’s your mother. She deserves to know.”

“True but I told you we have an understanding about that.”

“And what is that exactly?” Sora braced herself to hear what was sure to be one of the most ridiculous things she had ever heard to come out of one of their mouths.

She was not disappointed.

“It is our own personal responsibility to inform our own mothers about any injury we obtain. Under no circumstance are we to subject anyone else to their wrath, unless literally physically incapable,” Taichi ratted off, with all the solemnity as if it were a sacred pledge.

Sora rolled her eyes. If it wasn’t for the shared life and death experiences, she wasn’t sure she could ever put up with these two. “Well, none of this would have happened if you hadn’t come up with that convoluted version of hide-and-seek.”

“No way! That was totally awesome until Yamato fell up the stairs.”

“Not my most graceful moment,” Yamato agreed, nodding his head. He looked down at his arm in the sling and sighed.

“Well, it was no wonder. Someone was bound to get hurt with all that running around--”

“Actually, Sora,” Yamato interrupted. “I’m going to have to agree with Taichi on this. That rush of power as they all scattered when they heard the sounds of bells was kind of addicting.”

As Sora thought back on it, she couldn’t deny that the two boys had a point. She had been having a lot of fun with the activity Taichi had put together, even to the point that she had begun to think that perhaps ( _perhaps_!) trusting him with the activity hadn’t been such a bad idea, after all. And that maybe ( _maybe!_ ) she wouldn’t stress half as much the next time that she ended up putting him in charge. All of which got pushed to the back of her mind in that instant when the tentative voice of some female third-year crackled on the walkie-talkie and said, “Umm...excuse me? I think Ishida-san broke his arm. What should we do?”

Suddenly, Taichi was laughing. Sora shot a confused glare at him. “What’s so funny?”

With eyes still sparkling with mirth and an amused smirk on his lips, Taichi said, “You were totally having a good time. It’s written all over your face. Just admit that my game was awesome.”

Sora made a noise of frustration and lifted her fist to punch Taichi on the arm. Within seconds, Taichi’s eyes widened as he realized her intent. Quick as lightning, he reached out and grabbed Yamato and _pulled_. Her momentum was already too late to stop, so she ended up punching Yamato’s shoulder instead.

“Ow!”

Yep, _that_ shoulder.

“Dude, what’s your problem? Broken arm, remember?”

“Geez, Yamato, I’m sorry. It was instinct, I swear.”

“Yamato, I’m so sorry. I wasn’t aiming at you.”

Glaring at Taichi and rubbing his shoulder with his uninjured arm, Yamato responded to Sora’s apology with a terse, “Yeah, I know. Not your fault.” Taichi, for his part, was rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish expression to accompany his apology.

Sora folded her arms across her chest. Quirking up one eyebrow and with a half smile on her lips, Sora teased, “I thought it was only a hairline fracture anyway.”

Taichi and Yamato exchanged a startled glance before looking back at Sora at the same moment. A bubble of laughter escaped her lips as a puff of air. Moments later, the two boys’ mouths curled upward into smiles. As one, the three friends burst into shared laughter. And Sora knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that despite the worry and stress her two best friends caused her, she wouldn’t change (or exchange) them for anything in the worlds.

Needless to say, their teacher was forced to herd them from the hospital when a rather stern nurse disapproved of their loud laughter. Which, really, caused them to laugh all the more.


	4. July

_“_ Please _say you’ll do it, Koushiro. You’re the best candidate for the job, not to mention I need someone else sane on the team. And before you say anything, Yamato doesn't count. Because his IQ tends to drop at least a hundred points when the two of them are together.”_

_“Sora…”_

_“_ Please _don’t say no. I know Taichi’s our leader, and we couldn’t ask for a better one. But everyone knows we would have died the first week in the Digital World without you. And many more times following that.”_

_“Sora…”_

_“Don’t make me beg. I will, you know, if I have to because I am that desperate but I’d rather not have to.”_

_“_ Sora! _Taichi asked me yesterday. And I already accepted.”_

\- Sora and Koushiro, at the Izumi front door, after Sora accepted the position of Secretary and Koushiro, Treasurer

* * *

 

Taichi thought he looked fantastic in a yukata.

The problem was Taichi thought his younger sister did as well.

“Well, what do you want me to do about it? Wear a parka?” The sister in question stood with her hands on her hips. A single finger was moving up and down in a tapping motion against her hip.

He lifted his eyebrows at her. “Are you seriously giving me that option? Because I will take it.”

Hikari threw her hands up. Her face lifted to the sky in an expression Taichi could recognize from anyone. His friends tended to do the “why me?” expression around him often. And by often, he meant a lot. As in it was a rare day when he didn’t get it from at least one of them. “It’s July, Taichi. I’m not wearing a parka.” She walked passed him to the front door. Taichi followed her.

Objectively, Taichi thought Hikari looked positively beautiful. With her hair pulled halfway back by a giant pink flower hairpin above her left ear, she looked radiant. Her yukata matched the hairpin (or perhaps it was the other way around). It was made with a pink fabric that contrasted with her pale skin. The gold embroidered flowers shimmered in the light, catching attention to them.

Subjectively, Taichi thought Hikari looked positively beautiful. Which meant many others (males to be more specific) might think the same. Taichi twisted his lips as they rode the elevator down to the ground floor and tried to come up with a solution. In reality, he understood it wouldn’t be fair of him to lock her up. Forever. Where no one could get to her.

But the protective part of him sure wished sometimes that he could.

The elevator doors opened, and the siblings stepped out. His eyes were drawn to his sister again as she pushed her hair behind her ear. The golden accents of her hairclip glinted in the waning sunlight. There was something about the hairpin that drew his attention to it. It was new, but that wasn’t it. Hikari wore a new hairclip every Tanabata Matsuri. As he studied it, another face popped into his mind and he found himself asking, “He gave that to you, didn’t he?”

Hikari’s hand lifted to the clip in her hair, though Taichi hadn’t given any sign that was what he was talking about. A smattering of pink dusted her cheeks as she said, “Of course he did. He gives one to me every year on my birthday. And it matches my outfit _again_ , even though I’ve been so careful this time to keep it secret. I wish I knew how he always manages to find out! Miyako swears it isn’t her.”

Taichi would never tell Hikari that he may or may not find out from Yamato who may or may not find out from him. Because, you know, sometimes you have to betray your sister to help a brother out. So, instead, he asked, “How did that tradition start between you guys anyway?”

“In fifth or sixth grade, I made fun of him that he only had one hat. Then he pointed out that I only wore one hair clip, and that wasn’t any different. My next birthday, he got me a butterfly clip to match my yukata. So, his next birthday I got him a new hat. And we’ve been doing it ever since.” She stopped walking and turned to face him as they reached the train station. Her eyes moved about his face, like she was trying to read him. “Why the sudden interest?” she asked.

He shrugged and shook his head. Taichi wasn’t exactly sure himself. “I dunno,” he admitted. “It seems a bit different from the other times.”

Her hand lifted to the clip again. The tips of her fingers brushed along it. “Well, it is bigger this year than before.” Hikari beamed up at him. Though she smiled often, Taichi didn’t often see his this radiant. “But I still love it!” she exclaimed. At her words, some stray thought tugged at Taichi, a thought that was more of a feeling than words. Some realization that he felt he should have figured out ages ago but still had no words to describe.

Taichi continued to follow his sister into the train station and onto the train. His mind was still trying to figure out how to put together the jumbled pieces in his mind. He felt the pieces should fit together easier than they did. He moved himself around Hikari to protect his sister from the crowd of people as they entered the train. His thoughts snapped back to their original conversation. “Hey! Don’t change the subject!”

Twisting her head to look at him, Hikari looked confused and startled for a moment. Then she began giggling into her fist. Eyes dancing with merriment, she said, “Taichi. You’re the one that brought it up.”

Taichi reviewed their conversation in his head until he realized that she was right. He had been the one to bring up the hairclip. “Oh, yeah,” he drawled, causing his sister to giggle again. A minute later, the train stopped at their stop, and they got off. As they exited the train station, Taichi caught her arm before she could keep walking. “The conversation isn’t done, though. I still haven’t come up with a plan.”

Hikari threw her hands into the air again. “I don’t understand, Taichi. We’ve done this with everyone for years. What is your problem all the sudden?”

“You didn’t turn fifteen before.” And yep, that came out exactly as childish as it had sounded in his head. But the bigger part of him didn’t care. He was one hundred percent serious. After all, he remembered what it was like to be a teenage boy. Not taking into account that he was still a teenage boy.

Hikari started to laugh again. She continued to walk down the sidewalk. Taichi frowned scratching the side of his head, walking after her. “I don’t see what’s so funny,” he muttered, following after her. He was trying to be serious here. To him, this was a real problem. His sister was pretty and creepers liked pretty girls. He didn’t know how she couldn’t see that this was a crisis situation.

“You are,” Hikari replied. “You do know you’re being ridiculous right now, don’t you?”

Taichi folded his arms across his chest and thought about it. He hadn’t thought he was overreacting at the time. But once he went back over what he’d said when Hikari appeared from the bedroom ( _“What are you wearing?! I’m not letting you out of the house looking like that!”_ ), he had to admit that it did hit rather high on the Mimi Scale. Still didn’t mean this wasn’t an actual problem that needed a definite plan of action.

Hikari sighed. Another thing that Taichi knew rather well. That “I am so done with you” exasperated sigh was one his friends gave him about as often as the “why me” plead. “If I stay within a foot of the boys at all times, would that make you feel better? With Mimi gone, you do about outnumber us girls almost three to one.”

Taichi latched onto this idea. It sounded about perfect to him. “Could you make it six inches? Except not Jou because he hates confrontations. And Koushiro’s shortish. So is Iori, except he’s kind of young. But he does take kendo, but he’s kind of a pacifist. Not Daisuke either because we wouldn’t want the police to get involved. Ken’s kind of timid, too. And let’s not even mention the Ishida brothers who are sometimes even more protective of you than I am and might actually murder someone who tried to hurt you.” He snapped his finger as another idea came to him. “Here’s an idea. Why don’t you stand between Sora and Miyako and the rest of us could surround you three like bodyguards? That way no one could even approach you at all.” Taichi grinned, proud of himself for coming up with the perfect plan.

Judging by his sister’s face, she did not agree. In fact, if her incredulous expression was anything to go by, he should give serious consideration to what exactly he’d said that made him sound like a raving lunatic. “What?” he asked.

Hikari’s face softened, and she tilted her head to the side a bit. “I’m curious, Taichi. What is your actual plan for when I start dating someone?”

Panic. That was his honest to goodness gut reaction. “Dating?” he repeated. “Who said anything about dating?” A horrible thought struck him. “Are you dating someone, Hikari?”

“No. That’s not—“

Taichi cut his sister off. “Who is he? Do I know him? Whatever. I don’t care. He’s a dead man.”

“Taichi!” Taichi stopped talking. It wasn’t often that his sister actually yelled at him. Hikari closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I am not dating anyone. But, trust me. _When_ I start dating,” she began. Taichi thought she put more emphasis on the word “when” than necessary. She continued, “It will be to someone you approve of. After all, if you didn’t approve of him, it would be because he was some kind of jerk anyway. And not for some stupid reason like he's a male, right?”

Taichi couldn’t exactly say that was a legitimate reason now without sounding petty. He felt he couldn’t say anything except a simple agreement. At least not without implying that he didn’t trust her which he did. And judging from the small mischievous glint in his sister’s eyes, she knew it too. Now he wondered if she’d been taking lessons from Sora. Sora was the one that usually used his own words against him and talked circles around him. So, Taichi said the only thing he could at that point. “Right. Of course.” Then, something in her words struck him as rather odd. She had said “approve” as in present tense not “will approve”.

As he was about to ask her about it, a familiar voice broke through the crowd around them. “Taichi! Hikari!” With that shout, he realized that they had reached the shrine without him knowing. It didn’t take him more than a few seconds to locate his best friend standing outside the entrance. Taichi took a quick head count, noting with no surprise that Jou and Daisuke were still not there yet. He waved back to their friends and grabbed his sister’s hand to lead her over to them.

As soon as they got over to them, Hikari’s hand slipped out of his own. This action drew his attention back to his sister, and he watched her approach the boy in the center. The two middle schoolers created the bridge between the two different units of the group. In both a figurative and literal manner in this case. When he saw the bright smile on her face when she greeted him, all those puzzle pieces that had been jumbling around in his mind slammed into place. Only two questions ran through his mind. Namely, ‘ _when did that happen_ ’ and ‘ _how did I miss this before_ ’.

Taichi allowed his brain to process this new information, thinking about the possible conclusions. He felt a bit too much like an old grandmother when visions of brown-haired, blue-eyed children that he could spoil rotten bloomed in his mind. He shook his head to dismiss the images. Shrugging as he realized that he didn’t mind at all, it still kind of raked him that Hikari had been right. So, he decided it was time to do what any good older brother would in this situation.

Embarrass the heck out of her.

He reached out and grabbed Hikari arm, tugging her back over to him. Her question died after the word ‘what’ when he leaned in close to her ear and spoke so that only she could hear. “Just don’t kiss him in front of me, alright?”

The grin on his face only grew wider when he leaned back and saw her bright red face and mouth hanging open. She sputtered a moment before she cried out his name with indignation. But he only chuckled as he backed away and Miyako swooped into ask, “What did he say?” Hikari only groaned and buried her red face in her hands.

When he turned to his other friends, Yamato had one eyebrow lifted in a silent question. Sora had her lips pursed in disapproval. “What?” he asked. Almost as one, both of them rolled their eyes at him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jou had arrived at some point during all this. He strode over and clapped the older boy on the shoulder. “How’re you doing these days, Jou?”

Jou pushed his glasses further up his nose. Before he could answer, the whirlwind that was Daisuke Motomiya arrived. The boy looked frantically about as he exclaimed, “Did I beat him?” When his eyes landed on Jou, he dropped his gaze to the ground and muttered, “Dang it.”

In his mind, Taichi added to the tally in his head. Daisuke had a one-sided competition with Jou over who could arrive first whenever their group officially gathered together. So far, in the almost two years since the competition began, Daisuke was 0 for 43. Well, 44 counting today. Taichi kept count because he planned to make a big deal about when he finally beat Jou. The plan was to buy him a cake with ‘Congratulations!’ and the score written on it in bright, bold red letters. Like Sora told him, sometimes he was easily amused.

“Well, guys,” Taichi said, raising his voice so that they all could hear him. “Let's go.” Without waiting for reply, he turned and lead the way into the shrine, knowing they would follow him.

* * *

 

Koushiro was sure that the Goddess of Fate must enjoy testing them. That or some god of trouble must get a kick out of watching them suffer. Because, seriously, _no one else_ could walk into a festival with the intent of having some relaxing fun and cause _this_ much trouble.

“Well, at least no one broke their arm this time.”

“Hey! I resent that.”

“It wasn’t meant to be insulting.”

“Well, in that case, I totally agree.”

Leaning over panting, Daisuke raised his hand, drawing the attention of the group to him. He stood up straight and took a deep breath. “So…” he began. There was a second’s pause before he continued, “Why did I have to punch that guy?”

“Because Taichi and Yamato are idiots,” Sora stated. Her words were muffled somewhat. Which was understandable considering she was currently slung over Yamato’s shoulder. Koushiro wondered why he had slung her over his shoulder rather than carry her as the other two had. Then he remembered that Yamato’s arm with still in it’s brace, so that was probably why. “Also, could you put me down now, Yamato?”

“Right. Sorry.” Yamato complied with the girl’s request. He set Sora down on her feet and waited long enough that she was steady before taking a step back.

From Taichi’s arms, Hikari added, “I would like to second that statement.”

“Me three!” Miyako yelled from Jou’s arms.

As Jou put the girl down, Koushiro could have sworn he heard the older boy mutter, “Which one?” It took him a moment to realize what he meant. When he did, he had to turn his head away to hide his laugh in a cough.

Koushiro hadn’t actually seen what had happened to start all this. One moment, he and Takeru had been hovering around a fishing game watching Hikari play. The next moment, Taichi had appeared from nowhere and scooped his sister up into his arms. Then, just as abruptly as he had appeared, he took off running. Takeru had followed with only a “hey, wait” falling from his lips.

On the other hand, Koushiro had taken a second to look around. It was a habit and ability of his to take note of everything in a half-second. Yamato with Sora over his shoulder and Jou with Miyako in his arms followed after their leader. All the others trailed behind. There were a few young men surrounded by what appeared to be their friends getting to their feet from where they had somehow fallen to the ground. After taking in the scene, Kushiro followed the rest of the group. Now that he knew Daisuke had punched someone, the boys being on the ground and everyone running away made a lot more sense.

Yells and hollers had chased the Digidestined as they had pushed their way through the crowds. Soon enough, the sounds died out as they found refuge in a more secluded part of the shrine’s grounds.

“Wait. You punched a guy?” Takeru asked.

“How did you miss that?” Miyako asked.

The blond boy shrugged. “I only saw Taichi grab Hikari and run.”

Miyako’s eyebrow lifted and her lip curled into what could almost be called a sneer. Except that Miyako did not typically sneer. Except at Daisuke. “And you just followed? Without even knowing why?” she demanded to know.

Takeru looked at her with confusion on his face, as if he didn’t understand her question. And Koushiro reasoned that to the younger boy any other option likely hadn’t even occurred to him. It was times like these that he remembered that most of the younger generation hadn’t experienced what they had. That they hadn’t spent months in a hostile world with no one but Taichi to lead them. That they didn’t remember what it was like in the time he wasn’t there.

That they didn’t know that if Taichi ran, yes, you did follow and wait for the explanation later.

If only because anything that could make the recklessly brave Taichi run away was not something you wanted to deal with.

Koushiro had only hesitated because it was a habit he'd developed over the years. He’d gotten used to assessing situations as fast as possible. This was so that, later, he could feed Taichi possible plans as necessary.

“I want to point out that I only punched the guy because Taichi punched someone first.”

As everyone looked at Taichi for an explanation, their leader folded his arms across his chest. A frown turned the sides of his lips down, and he stared right back at them. “What? He was pushing Yamato, so I was backing him up.”

“And what were you doing that he felt the need to push you?” Sora asked.

Yamato pressed his lips into a small line before he answered. “I may have gotten a little confrontational with him and his friends.”

“Why?” Sora pressed.

“They were looking at Hikari in a way I didn’t like, alright?” he spat out. There was a moment’s pause as everyone took that in. For no apparent reason, Hikari started to laugh. Koushiro heard Takeru mutter a question to her, most likely asking why she was laughing. She waved her hand at him, laughing too hard to answer him.

“In that case, I’m sorry I didn’t punch my guy harder.”

“Ditto.”

“And if you had gotten in trouble for it?”

Taichi, Yamato, and Daisuke exchanged glances. “Still totally worth it,” Taichi said as the other two boys made sounds of agreement.

“Boys.” Sora muttered out of the corner of her mouth.

Taichi beamed and looked down at his sandals. “Well, on the bright side,” he started. “I now know that I can run in these sandals while carrying Hikari if push comes to shove.”


	5. August

_"It's summer vacation."_

_"I know, Taichi."_

_"Yet here we are at school."_

_"I know, Taichi."_

_"Tch. I never should have run for president. Seriously, we have to be here to do all this work. I'm such an idiot."_

_"Oh, believe me, I know, Taichi."_

_"...You're not supposed to agree with me. You're supposed to tell me how awesome I am and that I'm a great leader and all that. You know, cheer me up."_

_"You've got the wrong person. Go to Mimi if you want that kind of crap."_

_"But..."_

_"Shut up and do your work, Taichi, so we can get out of here. And don't give me that look. I've called you worse things before."_

_"True enough."_

_“…”_

_“…”_

_“Hey. I have an idea.”_

_“As long as it doesn’t involve me breaking my arm again.”_

-Taichi and Yamato, at the Student Council Room, after three hours of paperwork in the heart of summer vacation

* * *

 

“I want to go camping.”

“No.”

“Absolutely not.”

“I broke my arm the last time we did that.”

Taichi frowned at Yamato. “It was a hairline fracture, and you’re perfectly fine now.” Then he looked at Sora and Koushiro, the other two that had shot down his request. “And you didn’t even allow me to finish.”

Sora looked her leader square in the eye. “Every time I have gone camping where you were present it has ended in disaster.” She folded her arms across her chest. “Excuse me if I believe fate to be telling me something.”

Taichi raised his eyebrow at her. “And what would that be exactly?”

“Obviously, don’t go camping with Taichi Yagami.”

Taichi looked over at Koushiro. The younger boy gave a small shrug. “I just don’t like camping. I hardly wanted to go the first time. Don’t get me wrong. I wouldn’t trade meeting Tentomon for anything but I prefer other entertainment beside outdoor recreation.”

Taichi huffed. “Fine. What about a hot springs?” When Sora opened her mouth, Taichi quickly added, “And don’t bring up Devimon. That was one time years ago. Get over it.” Sora snapped her mouth shut and turned away with a frown creasing her brow.

Miyako raised her hand. She asked, “You want all of us to go to a hot springs together?”

Rubbing the back of his head, Taichi gave a sheepish laugh. “I was more thinking of inviting the whole student body actually,” he admitted.

Dead silence met his statement. His friends stared at him with various levels of incredulousness. He personally felt this was unwarranted.

Yamato leaned forward, resting his forehead on his hand which hid his eyes. A heavy sigh escaped from him before he spoke. “You’ve already planned it all, haven’t you?”

Taichi couldn’t help but let a grin form on his face. His friend knew him so well. “You could say that.” He wasn’t quite willing to admit to everything yet. Though he doubted it would take Yamato much longer to piece the rest of it together.

“Invitations?”

“Sent them last week.”

“Permission slips?”

“Collected in this folder.”

“Money?”

“Turned into the principal this morning.”

“And us?”

“Taken care of. I took the liberty of talking to your parents myself.”

“Of course you did.”

Sora interjected, “Let me get this straight. You booked a hot springs vacation for the entire student body without consulting us because you knew we wouldn’t want to go camping with you?”

Taichi mulled Sora’s sentence over in his mind. After a few moments, he nodded his head. “That about sums it up, yep.”

After another beat of silence, Yamato said, "Sometimes, Taichi, I don't know if you're brilliant or completely off your rocker. So, when is this trip?"

"Right now actually. The buses are waiting outside. I fabricated this entire meeting to get you here."

"I hope you had the foresight to pack our belongings for us,” Koushiro said. He was already packing up his things like he was getting ready to leave.

He tilted his head as he answered, "Well, not personally, but yeah those have probably arrived as well."

"Probably?" Sora asked with a raised eyebrow of her own.

"Well, I put Hikari, Takeru, and Jyou in charge of gathering them up, so yeah, probably."

Yamato came to his feet. “Alright then. Let’s go.”

“Wait. Are you serious? We’re all just going along with this?” Miyako demanded.

“Well, I suppose we all could use a vacation,” Sora said, biting her bottom lip between her teeth.

Taichi smirked, “I knew you’d all see it my way.”

* * *

 

To his dying day, Taichi would deny all blame for what happened.

* * *

 

“I blame you,” Yamato said as he stared at the crater and splintered remains in front of him. They were once the rather nice accommodations Taichi had somehow managed to wrangle for their group. He completely ignored the screams and chaos still occurring behind them.

Taichi folded his arms across his chest. “I don’t see how you can. Koushiro said himself that it was a random fluke. Gennai confirmed that it has never happened before and not likely to ever happen again.”

“Yeah, well, what he calls a fluke, I call karma,” Yamato shot back. “Somewhere, in the karmatic universe, this is your fault. I’m sure of it. Why else would this ‘random fluke’,” he started, holding up his fingers to make the quotation mark gesture with them. He continued, “--happen at the exact place where we all just so happen to be?”

“That’s actually a really good question.” Taichi rubbed his chin in thought. He shrugged as he drop his arms back to his side. “I’m still denying that I had anything to do with this.”

There was an exasperated tut from beside them. “Not to interrupt but shouldn’t we go help?” Sora interjected. She wasn’t looking at the destruction Yamato was. Instead, she watched what was going on behind the two boys.

“Nah,” Taichi dismissed as he turned away from the destruction to watch the battle on the other side of the property. “It’s only Kawagumon. The kids will take care of him in a minute.” He frowned and folded his arms across his chest. “That guy’s like a bad penny.”

Another second later, Yamato turned in the same direction as the other two. In silence, the three friends watched as Aquilamon and Kabuterimon battled Kawagumon in the sky. As Taichi predicted, less than a minute later, all three Digimon disappeared in a beam of light, no doubt from Koushiro’s computer. For another few seconds, they stood there in silence.

Taichi unfolded his arms and stepped forward. “Well, I guess we’d better make sure no one’s died.”

Two hours later, everyone was accounted for and set on the bus on their way home. There hadn’t been any injuries beyond scraps and bruises. The Digidestined watched, standing in a line, as the buses rolled out of the resort back to the city.  
“All in all, I think that turned out pretty well.”

All eyes turned to their leader in disbelief. Kawagumon had done a fair amount of damage before he was sent back to the Digital World. While it was certain that a random attack from a Digimon was not planned by Taichi, it had happened. ‘Turned out pretty well’ was not the way any of them would put it.

“What?” Taichi defended putting his hands in the air. “I mean, at least it happened at the end of the vacation. We were about the pack up and head home anyway. No one got seriously hurt and it was only Kawagumon. Given our track record, it could have been worse.” The Digidestined exchanged glances with each other. There was some reluctant agreement to each other with their eyes and expressions. Their leader did have a point, after all.

Yamato started to laugh. He slapped his hand onto Taichi’s shoulder. “At least life with you is never boring, Taichi.”

* * *

 

A pink rolling suitcase came to a stop next to small feet adorned by pink flip-flops. Fingers, with fingernails meticulously manicured, ran through light brown hair with just a hint of orange to it, pushing the strands back from pale rosy cheeks. Edges of full pretty lips curled upward as brown eyes took in the scene around them. She had come back. After all this time, she was finally home.

“Mimi, dear, are you coming?”

Taking a moment to straighten her white shirt and smooth down her pink ruffled skirt, Mimi Tachikawa gripped the handle of her rolling suitcase again. “Coming, Dad,” she called out and followed her parents out of the airport, once again on the soil of the country of Japan.

She couldn’t wait to spring the surprise on the others.


	6. September

_“You made that position up.”_

_“Come on. Mimi moved back from America; I can’t have her be the only Digidestined in the school not on the team.”_

_“But Student Cheer Person?”_

_“I admit I wasn’t at my most creative coming up with that title, but you have to admit she’s perfect for the job. Miyako is already the historian, and there aren’t any other positions left.”_

_“And the principal agreed to let you add her in?”_

_“I’ve found if I talk fast enough, long enough, and be annoying enough, she’ll let me do whatever I want, within reason, just to get rid of me. For the most part, she only asks me if anyone is going to die. If the answer is no, then I pretty much have the green light. How do you think I’ve managed to pull all this off so far?”_

_“Ask forgiveness rather than permission?”_

_“Won’t say that’s not part of it, too.”_

_“...If Jou was still around and our siblings and the rest of the young ones were old enough, you’d bring them in as well, wouldn’t you?”_

_“Heck yes, I would. DD forever!”_

\- Yamato and Taichi, at the Student Council Room, after the second trimester began and Mimi moved back to Odaiba

* * *

 

The students of Odaiba High School had never encountered someone quite like Mimi Tachikawa.

In truth, they didn’t know what to make of her.

They hadn’t learned yet that you don’t _make_ something of Mimi Tachikawa. You either shut up and listened or moved the heck out of the way before she bowled you over.

Their first encounter with the girl went as follows.

The first day of the second trimester dawned bright and crisp. There was a bit of grudging acceptance as the students walked back into school. Summer vacation was always hard to leave behind. But the excitement of seeing classmates buzzed among the student body. Many of them hadn’t seen each other since Taichi’s hot springs vacation (or longer if they were part of the fortunate few who didn’t take part). Greetings and squeals of girls rang across the air. The students milled about the courtyard, reluctant to move into the classrooms. Which was why many of them were witness to the event that was about to occur.

Once two certain individuals entered the school grounds, there was a subtle shift in the air. Friends nudged each other and whispers flew in a wave away from the school gate.

Yamato Ishida, THE Yamato Ishida, Student Council Vice President, local idol, and cool boy extraordinaire, strolled through the school gates with the innate confidence that a lot of people associated with him. This in and of itself was not in any way a surprise to anyone. What was unusual was the petite brunette that walked by his side with her arm wrapped around his own. She was talking animatedly, gesturing wildly with her free hand. It wasn’t her looks that had many in a silent uproar (though those were nothing to sneeze at). Even the most offended of girls could admit she was pretty enough to be there. It wasn’t even the fact that her arm was around his. Some of the bolder fans had tried that before. The rest took comfort in the fact that he’d always looked uncomfortable with the action and tried to escape as soon as possible.

This time was different. There was no visible sign that Yamato wanted to escape her presence. Indeed, in his expression, in his smile, there was what could only be described as a fond tolerance. (Many just skipped over the tolerant part and went straight for the fondness.) As if this was something he had experienced many times before and he didn’t exactly mind enduring it. Across the school yard, questions were being asked.

“Who is she?”

“Who is that girl?”

“Is she new? I’ve never seen her before.”

“What’s her name?”

“She looks kind of familiar, don’t you think?”

“What class is she in?”

“Who is that girl hanging on my Yamato Ishida? Who does she think she is?”

That last one was from one of the more extreme groupies of Yamato’s band.

A few people admitted to thinking that she looked familiar. No one managed to come up with a name.

A familiar boisterous laugh rang throughout the courtyard. Almost before they could wrap their mind around what was going on, the auburn-haired girl stopped in what appeared to be mid-sentence. She looked toward the source of the sound, which was none other than a certain brown haired boy standing with his soccer mates. A bright smile (that got none too few hearts of the male population thumping) blossomed on her face.

She slipped out of Yamato’s arm and raced across the yard yelling something that most couldn’t make out. (Those well versed in the language of high pitch girl scream knew it to be “Taiiiiiiiiichiiiiiiiii!”)

To the utter astonishment of those looking, the girl no one knew pounced onto the back of none other than the Student Council President himself, Taichi Yagami. Who reacted to the girl squeezing her arms around his neck with the exact same fondness that Yamato had. Those closest were privileged to hear this conversation between the two.

“Good morning, Taichi. I heard you went to a hot spring without me.”

“Mimi, you lived in America for years. We did a lot of things without you. And it’s not like the whole gang went either.”

“All the more reason we should go again. You know with just us. Please, Taichi?”

Taichi sighed. “Yeah, sure. Why don’t—“

“Oh, there he is. Gotta run! You’re the best, Taichi!” And without waiting for Taichi to finish talking, she jumped off his back and was weaving through the crowd of the school yard again. (The ones still watching Taichi got to witness their president rubbing a hand across his face.)

By now, some of the students were convinced they were watching a typhoon trapped in a girl’s body. Most people in the yard were observing the unknown girl. At the very least, they were watching out of the corner of their eyes. So, almost everyone witnessed this scene:

The girl came to a halt by one Koushiro Izumi.

Koushiro Izumi gave the girl the typical morning greeting.

The girl leaned in and whispered something in Koushiro Izumi’s ear.

Koushiro Izumi’s eyes widened in shock.

The girl kissed Koushiro Izumi on the cheek.

Which soon after became the same color as his hair.

The girl grinned like the cat that got the cream.

The student body was then blessed with a sight many had never seen before: Koushiro Izumi, flustered.

Three questions begged for answers.

One: Who was this girl?

Two: What happened this summer?

Three: And how in the name of all that is holy did she come to be on such familiar terms with every male member of the student council? THE Student Council. Possible secret superheroes (that rumor had not died yet) student council members.

There wasn’t shock left to be had when she twirled away from Koushiro only to link arms with Miyako Inoue. The two girls proceeded to chat each other’s ears off as they entered the school building.

Needless to say, when it was announced in home room the next day that Mimi Tachikawa had joined the student council as the Student Cheer Person, the student body began to understand.

_She was One of Them_.

Because everyone knew there was an Us and Them when it came to the student council. Even the student council. The difference was that the student council members (AKA the Digidestined) were unaware that the rest of the student body knew this. Even if the students still hadn’t figured out the exact reason why the distinction was there.

They still didn’t know what to make of her. They didn’t know how it had happened. But somehow Mimi Tachikawa was one of…whatever it was the student council members were. (The student body couldn’t come to a consensus and new theories would still run rampant every once and a while.)

Even the most disgruntled students could let go of her friendliness with the boys after they found that out. 


	7. October

_“This special event of yours...you haven’t planned anything_ too _crazy, right, Taichi?”_

_“Relax, Sora.”_

_“It’s just that you won’t tell us about it, so it makes us worry that we wouldn’t let you do it if we knew about it.”_

_“Yamato, you wound me. Don’t worry, guys. I cleared it with the principal.”_

_“Given your record this year, that does not console me.”_

_“Come on, Koushiro, lighten up! Taichi’s our leader. If the principal approved it, it can’t be any worse than the other things he’s done this year.”_

_“Thank you, Mimi...I think. Seriously, you will love it. No one’s died yet, right?”_

_“Again, not reassuring.”_

_“Mimi’s right. I mean, in hindsight, this year has been fun so far. You know him best and you know he wouldn’t do anything super crazy.”_

_“Let me give you a word of advice, Miyako. It is_ because I know him _, that I’m worried. Taichi is always unpredictable._ Always _.”_

\- Student Council, in the student council room, one week before Sport’s Day

After lunch on Sports Day, an announcement rang out across Odaiba High School.

* * *

 

“All students proceed to the front of the school. The final activity hosted by your student council will begin.”

Whispers broke out among the students, which was completely understandable. Something like this had not happened before on Sport’s Day that they were aware. It wasn’t unusual to have some sort of school-wide competition. But it was unusual to have it in the front of the school. However, it was a long line of buses that greeted the students. Each bus was labeled with a set of classes. And a student council member stood at the door to each bus. Teachers and students alike wondered at this unexpected field trip but boarded the buses. Less than an hour later, they came to a stop at the camping ground site that looked familiar to the third years. They were herded out of the buses to stand in front of a platform that had about a dozen chairs on it. Half of the chairs were already occupied by teenagers that some of the students recognized.

Yet, those that knew them had no idea what they were doing here.

The student council filed onto the platform. Most of them had expressions somewhere between amused and exasperated on their faces. Except for the president. Taichi Yagami looked ecstatic and pumped up for something. This should have warned the student body that bad things were about to happen. Unfortunately, the students of Odaiba High still had not learned what they had done.

Megaphone in hand, Taichi took center stage and began to speak. “Welcome, everyone, to our final activity today. We’ve brought you out here to hold a giant paintball fight!” Taichi spread his arms wide at this announcement. Obligingly, the students cheered loudly. Waving his hands down to bring the noise back down, he continued to explain. “There will be four teams: the first years, the second years, the third years, and us, the student council. The team with the most players left at the end wins. To make things a little fairer, I’ve brought a few friends to help me out.”

This explained the presence of the other mysterious teenagers. Except one, the students that sat up on the podium were middle school students. Many of the high schoolers had no idea what more help a bunch of middle-schoolers would be.

“The time limit is one hour. You will return here if you are out.” A feral grin broke out on Taichi’s face. “Good luck.” Everyone separated to gather their equipment.

What followed was, after that day, known as The Red Massacre of 2006.

* * *

 

“This is Red Leader. Is everyone in position?”

“I don't see why we couldn’t have been the pink team.”

“I don’t see why we need code names.”

“Because I’m in charge, Red 5 and Red 2. You should have thought of that before you decided I was your leader.”

“Red 8, you look positively radiant today.”

“Even when I’m dressed like this?”

“Especially when you’re dressed like that.”

“Red 7, Red 8, stop flirting over the airways.”

“We weren’t flirting!”

“Uh...we actually kind of were.”

“Oh, shut up, you.”

“Oh, get married already!”

“Red 2, my dear brother, I’d like to point out that we are fifteen, and that is illegal.”

“Well, in some places, it’s not if you have parental permission.”

“Do I even want to know why you know that, Red 10?”

“Uh...not really, no.”

“What does it matter? Could you even imagine my mom giving permission for that?”

“Are you acknowledging that the only reason you aren’t going through with it is because you couldn’t get parental permission?”

“Um...maybe?”

“What are you saying?! And stop laughing!”

“Are you guys teasing? Or are you actually together? Because that would be adorable if you were.”

“We are NOT together. Seriously, stop laughing.”

“Cut the chatter, Red Team. Did everyone forget we’re actually here for a reason?”

“How could anyone possibly forget this hare-brained scheme of yours?”

“Good. Now, is everyone in position?”

“Yes.”

“Of course.”

“Ready when you are, Red Leader.”

“Then let’s show them why we are the greatest team in any world.”

“Oh, yeah. I am so pumped for this!”

* * *

 

It began with a trickle which led to a river until it became a flood. Students streamed from the woods, all out after being shot with the paintballs. Here and there you found ones with a splatter of blue, yellow, or green.

But the majority were red.

Students checked in their paint guns to their homeroom teacher before taking seats in the grass in front of the stage.

Then the stories started.

“Two of them came running at me, screaming like mad men. I lifted my gun to shoot, except bam! Red paint appeared on my front. And I swear they didn’t lift their guns.”

Similar stories floated about. The most prominent statements heard were some variation of the following:

“Did you see them?”

“I never saw them, did you?”

“No, I didn’t see them.”

“It came out of nowhere.”

A half hour into the competition, everyone kind of started to realize the same thing. The whispers continued to pass around. The stage remained empty. Not a single member of the student council team had been taken out.

As the students glanced around, taking note of the sea of red paint around them, they began to figure it out. And with that realization followed acceptance.

They should have known better than to go against the student council.

Fifteen minutes later, most of the students had been shot out. The majority, again, sporting red paint. A figure emerged from the trees without a speck of paint on their armor. An expectant hush fell over the crowd of students as the figure mounted the stage and sat in one of the chairs. The figure removed their helmet to reveal a blue-black haired boy. He wasn’t a member of the student council, but he had been one of the other people sitting on the stage when they arrived. He sat the helmet on the chair next to him. He reached into his pocket and put on a pair of glasses. And then did nothing.

What was he doing? There didn’t appear to be any paint on him that they could see.

One student near the stage could not contain his curiosity. “Who are you?” he asked.

The older boy looked at him. “I’m Red 6—I mean, Jou Kido.”

When he didn’t offer anything else, another student asked, “Are you out?”

“No,” Jou answered. “Red Leader—I mean, Taichi sent me to watch over you guys because the tournament is almost over. Which reminds me…is anyone injured,” he asked, raising the volume of his voice. “I know Taichi and Daisuke can be…enthusiastic. If anyone has any scrapes, I have a first aid kit, and I’d be happy to help.” Even as he spoke, he pulled a small box out from the pouch on his belt. Which lead some students to wonder if he always had it with him or if it was a special occasion.

Jou walked among the students, treating minor injuries. Most of the injuries came more from running in a forest rather than the actual fighting in the paintball. He looked at his watch every few minutes as he moved around. Finally, he looked at his watch one last time before he jumped up and walked back onto the stage. He pulled out a pair of earplugs and put them into his ears. Reaching under the podium, he brought out a fog horn. Those closed to the stage had only a few seconds to realize what he was doing and cover their ears. The siren blared across the area, signaling the end of the competition, calling the remaining students back to the clearing. There were about half a dozen third years, a handful of second years, and a couple of first years.

At last, from the tree line, there strode a group of eleven. The confidence they portrayed in every synchronized step was almost palpable across the group. The red tint to their armor gave away their identity.

The student council team.

Not a one had so much as a speck of paint on them.

The student council and their friends had taken on the entire student body of Odaiba High and _won_. One student in particular put into words the general feelings of the group.

“Heaven help us, there are more of Them.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Notes: In case you were wondering:  
> Red Leader- Taichi  
> Red 2- Yamato  
> Red 3- Sora  
> Red 4- Koushiro  
> Red 5- Mimi  
> Red 6- Jou  
> Red 7- Takeru  
> Red 8- Hikari  
> Red 9- Daisuke  
> Red 10- Ken  
> Red 11- Miyako  
> Red 12- Iori


End file.
